Anniversary
by Iceflower221
Summary: Spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't read all 6 books of the Tiger's Curse series. This is a short story about Ren and Kelsey's eigth anniversary together. It is my unique telling of how their lives have progressed together since they broke the curse and settled down to have a family in Oregon. This story mainly focuses on the love between them as they celebrate the occasion.


As I felt my eyelids flutter open, I knew I was safe, I knew I was safe as long as I stayed in his arms. I nuzzled closer to him and felt his warm hands caress my cheek and back as I slowly became more alert. I felt strong arms pull me over to the other side of the bed and I knew there was no place I would rather be than this special moment with him. I opened my eyes and saw a weak ray of sunlight shining over the mountain top that we had called our home for the last eight years. I loved the sunrise, but as my eyes drifted to the presence at my side I knew with a certainty, that his face was more beautiful to me than anything else in the universe. It had been eight years, eight long years since we lost Kishan and helped Durga fulfill her important role in history so the future could be in good hands. Though that kind of adventure was behind us, I was sure there would be plenty of other adventures for us to have together, and with our family.

Then I heard his soft melodic voice say, "Happy anniversary Kells." Then he kissed me, a kiss of love and passion. It felt like only a few moments, but by the time we broke apart you could see the sun over the mountain. I gazed at his handsome face and basked in the light that came from a life with unconditional love for each other.

I smirked at him and challenged "I am yours for the day, what do you plan on doing with me tiger?"

His face revealed a considering look before he smiled and said "You will see in good time _iadala._ Now, I have a few things I need to get ready for the day, so you go get dressed and get breakfast while I make plans for the day."

"Okay tiger, I am at your mercy for the day." I said as I slipped out of the bed. I looked over at him and he sighed in appreciation as he always does when he sees me in the very thin, blue, silk pajamas that he bought me when we first met. He got out of bed too, and after quickly getting dressed he left the room to go prepare whatever crazy scheme he came up with for today.

I quickly pulled a pair of tight blue jeans on with a top of solid color cobalt up to my breast, and the whole thing was covered in lace blue flowers. Finally I braided my long brown hair into a braid and accented it with a blue ribbon he had given me from Russia.

I walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where I was preparing to make Ren's favorite breakfast, peanut butter banana pancakes. As I was whisking the batter I heard him upstairs, and just as I was setting the breakfast table complete with mango slices he came down the stairs holding his hands behind his back.

"Good morning Ren!" I said brightly. "Dare I even ask what you have hiding behind your back?"

"Nope," he said with a smirk. "Good morning, _iadala_." He said as he came closer, he pulled out from behind his back a silver blue rose and said,

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep,

The more I give to thee,

The more I have,

For both are infinite."

**-William Shakespeare**

I inhaled the sweet fragrance of the rose and glanced up to see him smiling. "Do you like it?" He asked.

"I love it Ren, you know very well I love Shakespeare quotes." I said with a smile. "Now, I am not sure if it is as good as the poem you gave me, but I made us breakfast."

He pulled me into a hug and said "You know I don't know how to cook much, so I love it even more when you make something special for us." He glanced over my shoulder and I am sure his eyes probably lit up when he saw his favorite peanut butter banana pancakes sitting on the table. We sat down at the table together, and after he had taken a few bites of his breakfast I asked him what he had planned for the day.

"Well, I have big plans for this evening that I think you will love, therefore we can spend the morning doing whatever you want. Around four, I arranged for us to have a private dining area at the new prestigious italian restaurant in Ashland. Besides dinner, there will be dancing before the grand finish of our anniversary. I am bringing you to the Allen Elizabethan Theatre to see the Count of Monte Crisco performed in their open air amphitheatre," he said with a flourish.

"Oh, Ren, thank you so much! I absolutely love that book and I can't wait to see the play." I said enthusiastically as I got up and hugged him.

"I thought you might like that, and we don't have to worry about the kids because they are at Sarah's house for the night." He proclaimed with excitement.

"Well, in that case, I have you all to myself. How about we make kettle corn and I can introduce you to the live action version of The Jungle Book, all the animals are made with CGI now so even though they aren't real they are incredibly realistic." I said with a smile.

"Today, I will do anything you want _Priyatama_," he beamed. So while I made us kettle corn he found the movie off of netflix and we sat down together on the couch to watch it. As I suspected, he loved the way the animals looked. Though they weren't real animals being filmed, they truly looked alive on the screen. I had taken the kids to see the movie months ago when Ren was away on business and they really liked it. They spent the rest of the evening acting like they were the animals in the movie, Anik being Shere Khan of course.

When the movie ended he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently, "I loved it Kells, thank you for showing it to me." Though he smiled I could see a hint of sadness in his beautiful eyes, and I asked him what was wrong. "It's nothing, it's just the panther Bagheera. He reminds me of Kishan."

"Kishan made his choice," I lamented. "But we should be happy for him, he wanted us to be happy. We already know that his days were filled with love and companionship from Durga and he wouldn't want us to fixate on the past."

"I know you're right Kells, but he was my brother. Before I met you he was the only family I had for hundreds of years, although we didn't always get along we were always there for each other." He said softly.

"I understand," I whispered. For several minutes we sat there on the couch, wrapped in each other's arms for a time of silence for those we had lost along the way. When I turned towards him he was smiling with his special lopsided smile he used only with me. "Well, since we have some time before dinner how about I challenge you to a game of parcheesi?" I teased.

"You're on!" He laughed. "I have never lost that game in my life, so be prepared to lose." He grinned. It was so infectious that I smiled back before I went to go get the game from the closet.

When I came back he had cleared away the table so we had a spot to set the board down on. "Just to let you know, Kamala is getting very good at this game," I teased. "I might even go as far as to say she might beat you when she is older."

"It will never happen." Ren said with a smirk, though I could see the gleam in his eyes when I mentioned our daughter. I called being green and Ren chose blue, we rolled to see who went first and I smiled evilly at him as I moved a pawn out of my home space. Though at first I had the upper hand in the game, by the time it was halfway over it became clear he was going to win again. At first I had retained my lead because he didn't roll a five for several turns, meaning he couldn't get a pawn out of his home space. As I watched him move his pawn it was quite clear to me that he was going to win if I didn't do something about it. So I devised a plan like the one I made in Oregon while dating both Li and Ren. I would try my best to distract Ren enough from the game so I could get ahead.

I got up from the table to go get us something to drink and when I came back to the table I set my plan into action. I walked up behind him and put my arms around his neck before seducing him. "You know, are you sure you don't want to go for a swim before dinner while it is still warm out?"

"As much as I would love to go swimming with you in your blue swimsuit and watch your lovely long legs, I still have a game to win." He said with a grin on his face.

"Alright love, the offer still stands for later though." I kissed him flirtatiously before moving back to my own chair to finish our game. As I suspected, his next few moves could have been better, the game was now almost finished and now it was unclear as to who was going to win. At this point he noticed he was close to losing and stared at the board intensely before making his move. I had almost won when Ren made a move that I didn't see coming and ultimately defeated me. Well, it was worth a shot anyhow, next time I will just try harder.

After we cleaned up Ren said cheekily "Now, as the winner of the game, I demand a prize for my victory." He came over to me and wrapped me in his arms, then he kissed me right on the lips and I lost all sense of reality. Somehow, several minutes later, I found myself attached to Ren and we were on our veranda overlooking our garden. I enjoyed the feel of his hands on my face, and, of course, the sunlight on my back with the fragrance of flowers in the air.

I opened my eyes and looked up to see him wearing his lopsided smile. I smiled back and gave him a hug before saying "Well tiger, if we are going out to eat I need to get dressed. It wouldn't do to go to a restaurant in my jeans when you are always wearing fancy clothes, a girl just can't compete." I giggled.

"You are always beautiful, no matter what you wear." He proclaimed.

"Well, I am putting a dress on anyways, and you need to get dressed yourself. I suppose that if I go upstairs to my closet now I am probably going to find another expensive, over the top dress just for today right?" I asked innocently.

"You know me so well, my prema." He remarked with a smirk. "Just don't make me wait too long, I get lonely by myself."

"Seeing as men always take so much less time to get dressed, you could probably go see the kids before we go to dinner tonight." I proposed.

"I think I might just do that, see you later _prema_." He promised, and went to go get his coat.

"I will see you at about 3:30 then, tell Kamala and Anik I love them." I said.

"Of course I will, see you then." He vowed and walked out the door into the autumn trees.

After he left I went upstairs to our room and inspected the closet for whatever he put in there this time. After 10 years of loving Ren I had finally figured out that it was pointless to try to wear anything that he didn't want me to, he always got things his way eventually anyways. I found a garment bag at the front of the closet that wasn't there earlier and took it out to see what it was. I set it on the bed and zipped it open, inside was a beautiful dark blue silk dress. It had a sweetheart neckline with a flower shoulder strap on one side, and the neckline was boldly outlined in diamonds of pure starlight. I took me ten whole minutes to get on the silk dress, when I finally got it on I could see that it went down past my feet to make a short train of the blue fabric and that there was a slit in it above my left leg that went just under a foot up past my knee. The dress hugged my upper body, but seemed to flow as gracefully as a waterfall down my legs that had often been described as a gazelle's by Ren and Kishan.

I walked over to my full length mirror to see the entire dress, and I looked like royalty. Which makes perfect sense because technically, I am. I smiled to myself as I thought about that, because Ren was a prince, technically I could have been a Queen once he became King. I often thought he acted regally, people would follow him straight off a cliff. My gaze drifted over to my dresser where I saw jewelry box, it was in a heart shape that had a beautifully detailed painting of a waterfall. It looked familiar for some odd reason and I took another look to see if I recognized it. My mind did a double take when I realized it was the waterfall next to Ren's parents old home, and where Kishan had lived for 300 years. I smiled as I opened it and saw what lay inside. Tucked away within the velvet bottom of the box there were several hair clips, I took one out of the box and discovered that it look like a peacock feather except the colors were all variations of blue, with the exception that it was all outlined in silver. Contained in the box I also found matching earrings and a necklace that he had picked out. I spent the next half hour doing my hair, I decided to do a side bun on my right. For effect, I left it loose and curly with a few strands of my hair down to accent my face. For the final touch I sat down at my vanity to put in the peacock hair clips. When I was satisfied with my appearance I began to do my makeup because one does not simply wear a fancy dress without it. At last I was finished, a good half hour later. I stood to look at myself one more time in the mirror to make sure I was ready to go, and then mentally chastised myself when I saw my bare feet on the peach colored carpet. I smiled and went to my closet to find the right pair of shoes. I quickly found a pair of strappy high heeled shoes in a night blue color. Now I was ready. It was 3:38 when I arrived back downstairs and I found Ren waiting for me in his sherwani coat he had worn during our wedding eight blissful years ago. He stood as I walked down the stairs, and like he does whenever I wear a dress, looks me up and down like I was the only girl he had seen in years when he finally ended at my face. He wore his sherwani coat with a pair of dark blue slacks and perfectly polished ebony dress shoes. Naturally, when he was done appraising me he had a very self satisfied smirk on his handsome face.

He approached me and took me in his arms before passionately saying, "You look amazing Kelsey. Never the sun nor stars ever compared to you."

"Well, as long as I am wearing a dress I might be able to compete with you." I said, completely entranced by his eyes. He walked me out to his cobalt blue hummer and we drove into town while we reminisced about our own wedding day and how good family life was. He took my arm as we walked inside and was greeted by the owner before being led to a private room with a beautiful candlelit table. He held out my chair for me and I sat down gratefully, no one ever said strappy shoes were a comfort. He ordered for us both and then offered me his hand to dance while we waited. He led me onto the dance floor and the song playing was a traditional Indian song that I recognized from our wedding day. Instead of a waltz though, he led me along the dance floor in the Indian style of dance. Since our wedding I was gradually learning how to dance the way Ren does and eight years later I was finally knew most of the steps in order to keep up with Ren. By the time the song ended, I was out of breath and Ren was smiling at my reaction. The live orchestra began playing a slower song that was just as beautiful as the last. This time though, he started to waltz, this was something I could actually do with much more ease. We danced for several more songs before he swung me off the dance floor and kissed me before we walked back to our table. When I say walked, I really mean he walked and held me up because between dancing and kissing him my legs had turned into jello, and of course the stupid strappy shoes were not helping. The food was not quite done yet so he pulled me into his lap and kissed me passionately. His need for me consumed me until nothing else existed outside the two of us. Though our quest fighting days were over I was sure my body was glowing with the golden flame that came from our connection. His hands stroked my neck and hair as he kissed me everywhere. Numerous minutes later we finally pulled away and helped me to sit down.

As I sat down at my side of the table I inhaled the rich aroma of cheesy stuffed shells that was a different variation of the stuffed shells I make that Ren loves. It was one of the most delicious things I ever tasted. It was like cheesy noodles with a hint of marinara sauce with so many spices that I can't even begin to name though I had often helped Mr. Kadam grind spices in India.

When we were finished Ren paid our personal waiters handsomely, as he always does when he is caught kissing me in public. We drove down to the amphitheatre on the other side of town and I got excited all over again when I saw the shining lights over the theatre. We walked in and I discovered that Ren had gotten us front row seats right next to the stage. We sat down and waited for the performance to start while he held my hand and we listened to the live band that was playing before the show. I rested my head against his broad shoulders, and he settled his arm around my shoulders to keep the brisk autumn air at bay. The director came out onto the stage a few minutes later and introduced the cast before beginning their first live performance of the Count of Monte Cristo. As we watched the story unfold before us we were reminded of our time in Oregon before he was kidnapped when we read the Count of Monte Crisco together. It was well past dark by the time the play was finished, but it was definitely worth it. The theatre had been there since before my parents, but the shows were always too expensive for my parents to bring me to. In the eight years since I married Ren I never gave the theatre any more thought until he brought it up that morning. He knew me so well, and I wouldn't trade that experience for all the wealth in the world.

As we turned into our driveway, I asked Ren if he would meet me out on our veranda while I got his present out of my hiding place. "A secret rendezvous past midnight?" He smirked mischievously. "You can count on me, nothing would be able to keep me away from it."

"Alright, Ren," I said before laughing when I saw his expression. He helped me out of the car and he disappeared to go to the veranda. I wandered over to my dresser where I had cleverly concealed the small silver box that contained Ren's anniversary gift. Before I went out to meet him though, I kicked off my strappy shoes and was satisfied when they hit the floor with a thunk. I found him leaning over the veranda, overlooking the garden we had made together. There was a lovely fountain in it, and it was, of course, surrounded by tiger lilies and lotus flowers. With the moonlight shining down on it it looked as beautiful as shangri la itself. I walked over to him and we stood companionably, looking at the stars for a minute, though it seemed like an eternity. At last, he turned towards me and hugged me like he would never let go. As I basked in the warmth of his embrace, he murmured:

"**The Northern Star**

Constant and kind,

Compassionate and wise,

As beautiful as her eyes.

Though it may fade,

It will never be forever.

Thee star is a promise,

A pledge,

I am yours forever more,

Just as you are mine for all eternity.

For love never fades,

It cascades over into a river,

Which mortals call life.

Unpredictable,

Yet sure….

As sure as the Northern Star."

-Ren

I broke away from him enough to look up at his face as we stood in the moonlight. "That was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard Ren, thank you." I smiled, meaning every word I said. When Ren was away I would often read poems he wrote for me and I would imagine he was right by my side.

"I wrote that for this special occasion, I thought you might like it." He responded quietly.

I took a half step back as I remembered my purpose for coming out here and I grabbed the silver box before saying, "Happy anniversary Ren, I would have waited for you forever if you had asked me too," and I handed him the box. He took it and smiled back at me before opening it. He held it up to the moonlight so we could both see the golden glint, when he brought it down again I cupped my hands over his and pointed to the round object in his hands. The star in the middle was an icy blue that could only be one star. "I had this specially made for you, several years ago you mentioned me being your north star. Your own angel to guide you home in even the darkest of days. Now I am giving you a golden compass, each point on it becomes your star. When you are away, think of me, and of our children. Though I miss you when you leave, at least I know you will come home to me at the end of the day. When you leave, take this as a promise. A solemn oath, that you will always come home to us, and that we all shall forever be your northern star."

"I will treasure it always Kelsey, consider it in my warrior's vow. I have strived these last 10 years of my life to deserve you my _mere jaan_, and I will never leave you." He said with a solemn honesty that no one could ever doubt. "I once told you that maybe I was presumptuous in assuming the end of our song is a happy one, now I have come to realize that my dreams have come true, and now I write a new song to you. Because it is **so...not….over yet."**


End file.
